"He was always a funny little child," said our friend Lali Dhawan, mother of one of the industry's hottest stars Varun Dhawan
"He was always a funny little child," said our friend Lali Dhawan, mother of one of the industry's hottest stars Varun Dhawan. "He once wrote in an essay in kindergarten, 'I like my mother wearing sleeveless because she looks sexy!'" she laughed.
"His teacher had to call me to school to explain," said the Elphinstone College (Literature and Political Science) alumnus, who married director David Dhawan. We had called Lali to enquire about a recent statement issued by the star, saying he was in no hurry to get married nor to move out of his parental home any time soon, to live in with his steady GF Natasha Dalal.
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Varun Dhawan and mother, Lali
A move we thoroughly endorse after all he's only 27 years old for God's sake, and let's be honest bachelors are an endangered species in the industry today. Lali was understandably circumspect in her response. "There's another person involved in whatever I say and I have to respect her position," said one of the industry's most popular matriarchs.
"All I want to say is that my son is one of the most level-headed, stable and solid individuals, when it comes to women. Courteous and respectful, he is not the type to lose his head and do anything without a lot of consideration and thought," she said.
And then another anecdote jogged her memory and she laughed. "In another essay in KG, he wrote 'My mother says that all girls are Goddess Laxmi so I shouldn't hit them back if they hit me'," she said. "Even if Jennifer Aniston threw herself at Varun, he would not lose his head."
Saving the world, one party at a time
Word comes in that after her sit-down lunch at Indigo with some of the city's women of substance, it was time to expose Tina Brown to the er... other lot. And who better than Adar and Natasha Poonawalla to do the honours.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra
This celebrated PHD (Papa Has Dough) couple, whose life of caviar and roses has set them apart from the merely profligate, threw open the doors of their celebrated SoBo mansion last week for a hundred of their closest friends, including Sonam Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, Malaika Khan, Manish Malhotra, Yash and Avanti Birla, and other worthies for a bacchanal of epic proportions, that could put a Roman feast to shame.
Sonam Kapoor and Tina Brown
Natasha, who looked stunning in a figure-hugging dress, despite her pregnancy, played hostess with the mostest to perfection, overseeing every detail and making all her guests feel at home. All this, undoubtedly, towards the forthcoming Delhi-based Women in the World summit and the empowerment of disfranchised women across the world. Sweet.
Ms Bagwati International
Following the news that Jane Birkin, the model and singer who lends her name to French uber luxury house Hermes' top-of-the-line handbag label Birkin, has asked the fashion label to remove her name after a recent PETA expose of the cruelty to crocodiles in the making of the expensive status symbol, we couldn't help wondering if our own ladies who brunch will now renounce carrying the accessory.
Jane Birkin and the Birkin bags. Pics/Getty Images, AFP
The phenomenon of Hermes bags found its way into Zoya Akhtar's film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, when the Birkin's cousin, the Kelly was featured in it. And who can forget the incident concerning the Delhi 'diva' and her travails with the Birkin?
Kalki and Abhay in ZNMD
The lady who'd come to Mumbai as a fashion stylist for Bollywood and then had opened her own fashion 'pop up shop', had been apprehended by Customs at the airport on her way back from Bangkok with a suitcase-load of Birkins, which she intended to sell through her store.
Word is that Customs let her off the hook as they found that the bags she was bringing were 'first copies' that she thought she could make large margins on, by selling to her ever status-conscious and gullible clients. Tch Tch!
India's bit for Greece
Save the date missives have gone out to some of Mumbai's most well-heeled addresses, to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of Aditya, son of Smita and Deepak Parekh in Mykonos in September.
Smita and Deepak Parekh
Aditya is the banker-statesman's elder son and this is his second marriage. And with some of the country's richest business folk and financial wizards sure to converge on the Greek seaside resort, you could say it's India's initiative to save the Greek economy.
No gifts please, we're the RWITC
And more from Mumbai's jolly racing circles. News comes in that the Government of Maharashtra, which has yet to renew the club's lease and give it an annual racing licence, has imposed that the RWITC has to follow a strict code of conduct, disallowing parties and gifts, directly or indirectly. "Everyone knows that elections to the RWITC Committee are a keenly contested affair with over-the-top 'bribes' in the form of parties and expensive gifts being handed out," said our source.
"In the last two years, some candidates have wooed voting members with gifts ranging from silver pens to silk Pashmina shawls, and parties at the swankiest spots in the city including a 'Halaal by the Harbour' at the waterfront Radio Club!" said the insider, adding, "this practice had reared its ugly head after some years, after the famous stand-off between a flamboyant beer baron and a pharma honcho, after partying galore a decade ago."
And whereas, this recent order has stumped the bribe givers and takers, many are of the view that it is the way forward to clean up the sport and to prevent money power from influencing voters.
Which begs the question how will the big spenders big-spend now?
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